The dull, muffled smack of flesh colliding is the first thing you hear as you round the corner to climb the stairs. You try your best to ignore it, just as you have for the past three nights in Marley. You have already said goodnight to Ymir and Annie, leaving them to enjoy the sumptuous parlor and the painted women who decorate it with their bodies. Pieck retired early, and although you were exhausted too, you forced yourself to remain still when the soldier stood and said goodnight.
The past few weeks on the road have worn massive holes in the restraint that you wrap around yourself like a second skin. You fear that each coming moment might finally be the one where you will lose control of your senses and throw yourself at Pieck. So when Pieck went up to the room you were given to share, you stayed behind. You dreaded what might happen if you had to watch the other woman casually undress and slide into bed, like it was nothing.
You had waited as long as you possibly could before leaving the relative safety of the sitting room, until you ran out of excuses to stay.
staircase, you wonder if you should have hid out a little longer, and spared yourself the sounds that echo from behind closed doors: the anonymous gasps and moans that make the blood throb painfully in your veins.
Legs shaking, you reach your room at the end of the hall. You turn the handle slowly so as not to wake Pieck, but when you step inside, your stomach drops. One of the beds has been disturbed and a candle burns on the table beside a folded pile of red leather, but Pieck is not there.
You turn back to the dim hallway, frantic. You know very well that Pieck can take care of herself, but that doesn't stop your mind from racing through every dangerous scenario that might have befallen your friend. You makes it as far as the top of the stairs, poised to call for Annie, when you hear Yelena's voice through an ornate wooden door on your left. You don't mean to move toward the sound, but your legs don't listen. You push the door open without knocking, without considering what horrors you might find on the other side.
And there in the center of the small room is Pieck, naked and bound to a stone column. Her eyes widen when she sees you.
You open your mouth to scream, to call for help, to demand that Pieck be untied. But as you take in the flush of Pieck's skin and the darkness of her lips, the words die in your throat. But you know what you have walked in on. Nothing could be more obvious. You stand perfectly still, afraid to breathe, afraid to do anything but look at Pieck, in case the vision before you should shatter.
Finally, Yelena steps between you two, blocking your view with her tall body. The uniform seems different from the last time you saw it, almost indecent in the way it clings to Yelena's body. You lick your dry lips and try not to stare.
"I told Pieck that you would be coming to join us, but she didn't believe me," Yelena says, an artful smile playing across her face.
"Leave her out of this," Pieck snaps, glaring at Yelena's back. When she looks towards you, her voice changes to a plea. "Y/n. You shouldn't be here."
You begin to speak to Pieck, but Yelena cuts you off. "You forget your place, Pieck," Yelena hisses at the bound woman behind her, and all traces of her smile are gone. Pieck's anger, in turn, seems to bubble and grow, until the power crackling between the two soldiers makes goosebumps rise on your arms.
"You know I don't make empty threats," Pieck says, her voice low. "If you don't leave Y/n alone, I swear I will--"
Yelena swiftly raises one hand in the universal signal for silence, and you watch in amazement as Pieck's voice stops short. Her eyes flash furiously and she grinds her teeth, but she obeys.
"Your...concern for the beauty here is touching, Pieck," Yelena says, each word laced with disdain. She slowly makes her way around your body, appraising each muscle, every curve. You know that you should turn around and flee, leave them to their games, but your body will not follow the command.
